Trump Says “Fake News” said UN Laughed at Him, Then Diplomats Set the Record Straight: Yes, they were laughing “at” him

Trump Says “Fake News” said UN Laughed at Him, Then Diplomats Set the Record Straight: Yes, they were laughing “at” him

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump gave what is being called one of the more cringeworthy speeches of his Presidency thus far. Speaking before United Nations, Trump begin by claiming his administration had already accomplished more than any administration in American history.

And that’s when the laughing started. That’s right, the United Nations, a group full of international diplomats, laughed out loud at the claims of the President of the United States.

Trump, and notably, Nikki Haley, claimed that no, they were not laughing AT the President, but rather, WITH the president.

Critics points out there are two problems with that defense: First, Trump wasn’t laughing, and second, many of the diplomats in attendance have confirmed that they were indeed laughing at him:

“Sometimes, when we see a behavior or listen to arguments or notions that seem so far-fetched, unreasonable, or insane, there is almost natural reaction of laughing,” one Latin American diplomat said, speaking anonymously so he could speak freely.

The diplomat added, “It is not laughing at a good joke, but a nervous laugh, or a bad joke turned laughable precisely because the guy who tells the joke doesn’t realize how bad it is.”

Laughter filled the UN General Assembly room on Tuesday after Trump said his administration “has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.”

Trump argues that “they weren’t laughing at me, they were laughing with me.”

“We had fun,” Trump said. “That was not laughing at me. So the fake news said ‘people laughed at President Trump.’ They didn’t laugh at me, people had a good time with me. We were doing it together, we had a good time.”

However, diplomats themselves described the speech as awkward and out of place.

“His words in the opening part of the speech were clearly addressed to [a] domestic audience,” wrote one European diplomat in a message that noted that other world leaders do the same. “But as he did it in the Trumpian way (bragging ridiculously about being one of the best administrations in history) people in the audience reacted how they reacted.”

“What would resonate well at a political rally in America sounded a little awkward at the UN General Assembly,” the diplomat added.